Baby walker and anchor



c. B. DAHLBERG 2,746,517

BABY WALKER AND ANCHOR May 22, 1956 Filed Jan. 4, 1954 5' INVENTOR, p76, Z. C1094 5. DHA/Lame.

a y 2,746,517 y PtentedMalvf 22 195.6

United States Patent jill` This invention relates toimprov'ementsin baby walkers, and particularly that-type of baby 'walker which is den signed to vhave one of its wheels anchored so that the menltionedwheelwill be held'against rolling rotation and consequently-'movement of the walker is lrestrictedto" a circulanpath about the anchor as a center. i Y

A primary object oftheinvention is to` provide a novel, 'simpleanchoring means that can be positioned eitherl on laruglor carpeting orion a smooth highlypolished surface, such as Yarwaxed door, and which will efectively restrict i the baby walker to movements about the anchor as a center. By having the anchor detachable from the walker the l walker may be optionally used either as a conventional walker wherein movements of the walker 'on yits wheels are in no way confined or restricted or upon application of the anchor movements of the walker may be restricted to a circular path.

Another object of the invention is to provide an iml proved and highly simplified frame construction for baby walkers which will enable the walker to be easily and quickly knocked down or disassembled for shipment or storage purposes and which will also enable the walker to z` be easily and quickly set up Vfor use. The improved frame i construction is such that the parts thereof are relatively few in number and can be easily manufactured and assembled.

which extends upwardly and which is looped over the.`

legs being indicated at l16 and 17 and legsfterminate f in downwardly extending portions 18 equipped Vwith caster wheels 19. .g

Forwardly of the legs 16 and 17theside members pro.- vide portions 20. which are parallel to and which lie im mediately above the attaching portions 11. `These-.por-

tions are detachably secured to the attaching portionslbyv means of bolts k21 equipped with wing nuts'22 enabling the side kmembers to bereadily attached to and detached from theattaching portions of the `U-shaped member. The legs of the side members extend upwardlyl andforwardly above the forward legs 1-2 and 13 as indicatedfat 23 and are then reversely bent as at 24 to provide combined armrests 25 and .seat suspending portions... `The rear ends of these armrests are then bent upward1y.to

provide backrestsupports 26 the tops of which may be closed as by plugs 27.

. Atransverse bar 28 connects vthe armrestsZS adjacent their forward ends and. is attached thereto by means.of

screws 30vwhich extend through thearmrests'intothe ends of the bart(V The transverse bar 28H cooperates with the transverse portion 10in holdingl the two sides ofthe frame rigidly connected but spaced fromeach other.

A fabric seat is provided consisting of a bottom 31.`havf ing upwardly extending sides 32 and 33. .The `tops of these -sides [are hemmedV and may be. slipped downwardlyover the backrest supportslz and.`onto fthe `armrests 25,y At the forward edge of lthe seat 'there' is a crotch strap 34 transverse tubular member 2S. This loop is detachably secured about the tubular member 28 such as by separable fasteners 35. At the back ofthe `vseat or bottom 31 there is a backrest 36 which extends upwardly and has loops or hems 37 which can be telescoped downwardly over the upper ends of the backrest supports 26. The tops of these hems orloops are closed so that the backrest is, in effect,

l n suspended from the tops of the backrest supports 26.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be made manifest in the followingdetailed descripltion and Specifically pointed out in the appended claims,

reference is had to the accompanying drawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

l Figure l is a top plan view of a baby walker embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale taken substantially upon the line 3-3 upon Fig. 2, in the direction indicated;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially upon the line 4-4 upon Fig. 2 in the direction indicated;

Fig. 5 is a partial view in vertical section taken substantially upon the line 5-5 upon Fig. 2;\and

Fig, 6 is a sectional view taken substantially upon the line 6-6 upon Fig. 2.

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, the frame of the improved baby walker consists essentially of four parts. One of these parts is of general U- shaped configuration and is preferably formed of metallic tubing. This part has a transversely extending rear portion indicated at 10, see Fig. 4, the ends of which are bent upwardly and forwardly to provide attaching portions 11 at both sides of the walker. From the attaching portions the sides of the U-shaped member diverge forwardly A feature of the improved baby walker resides in the means for detachably `anchoring one of the caster wheels' A. Y.

so that optionally the baby walker may be confined to movements in a circular path or on removalof the anchor, the baby walker may have unconined movement. To this end the caster wheels are provided with radial recesses 3S. The anchoringmeans consists of a disc 39 adapted to be positioned beneath a caster wheel and which is preferably provided on its underside with a layer of rubber 40 so that the anchor will not slip or slide on polished surfaces, such as waxed iloors.- On ,the disc there is an upstanding pin 41 which is receivable in the radial recess 38 in any of the caster wheels. anchored disc is beneath a caster wheel and its pin 41 is fitted in the radial aperture 38 therein the pin functions as a means for preventing rolling rotation of the caster wheel although it permits the caster wheel to pivot rela-l tively thereto about the pin 41 as a center. When the anchor is in position as illustrated in Fig. l, due to the fact that the Wheel of the caster wheel cannot rotate, movements of the baby walker are conned toa circular path about the pin 41 as a center. Thus, the baby walker may move from the full-line position shown in Fig. 1 to and through the dotted line position shown therein. In `this manner when the anchor is applied the infants movevments in the baby walker may be relatively restricted.

On the other hand, it is possible to readily remove and detach the anchor discv from the baby walker, in which case all ofthe wheels of the caster wheels are free to rollingly rotate. Underk these circumstances, the baby walker is unrestricted or uncontned in its movements.

It will be appreciated that the anchor disc can be easily and quickly applied or removed as desired, and that it is unnecessary to fill the anchor disc with any tluid or weighty material. At the same time, when the anchor When the t 3 v l disc is in applied position it functions to restrict movements of the baby walker even though the anchor disc is on a highly polished surface or is on a soft resilient surface, such as that atorded by rugs or carpeting. v

'-When it isdesired to knock down the baby walker for purposes of shipment or storage, it is merely necessary to loosen the wing nuts 2 2 and remove the same, in which case the front legs may be detached from the side members as-a unit. On removal of the screws 31 the transverse tubular member 28 can be removed and the two side members can be collapsed together in side byside relationship. In this manner the baby walker can be collapsed into a relatively small compact space for shipment and storage purposes. When it is desired toI set up the baby walker it is merely necessary to re-apply the translverse tubular member 28rand drive the screws 30 after which the U-shaped member which provides the front legs may be attached by reapplying the wing nuts 22 to ythe bolts 21.

It will be appreciated from the above-described coustruction that the improved baby walker can be easily,

quickly, and inexpensively manufactured and assembled and that its construction is suiciently light so that it may be easily propelled by relatively weak infants. Whenever it is desired to restrict the movements of the Walker to a circular path, thisy is accomplished by the application of the anchor disc 39 which can be applied to any one of thefour caster wheels;

Various changes may be made in the details of construction Without departing from the spirit and scope of the` invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device of the class described comprising a means providing a legged chair, caster wheels on the legs of the chair, and an anchor detachably connected to one of the caster wheels, said anchor comprising a disc having a vertical pin receivable in a recess in one of the caster wheels.

2. A device of the classl described comprising a meansk providing a legged chair, caster wheels on the legs of the chair, an anchor detachably connected to one of the caster wheels, said anchor comprising a disc adapted to be positioned beneath the casterwheel, and an upright pin on ,the disc receivable in a radial recess in the caster wheel.

References Cited in thebile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

